Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Steve -
Thanks for following up and letting know everyone how things are going. Glad to know that the community was able to help you out.
:: Clay
Forum Activity for @Clay
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I know that this thread is a year old, but what a difference a year makes! I took your advice and purchased a quaity glass thermometer. I monitored the temperature faithfully. The bunnies came out fantastic! Each and every one of them!
Thanks for the tip, well worth the advice!
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
When I first started learning to temper, I bought one of the glass chocolate thermometers, and it helped me greatly. Other people were using a regular metal thermometer, and I could never catch it before it got to hot. With the one specifically made for chocolate, I could see exactly where the temperature was, and wouldn't over heat it. I had to temper 30# at a time back then, and and it made a huge difference. Never used the infrared. I just use my machine now
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks for all of the quick replies! I guess I get to go shopping....electronically speaking, that is.
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Infrared here too. Stir, stir stir.
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Yup, infrared for me too. I've got a couple of Coopers - some bigger ones and some little ones without the laser. They all work well.Barring that I use a Pyrex brand digital probe thermometer like this one. http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-16484-Digital-Probe-Thermometer/dp/B0002MH0R2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1270515232&sr=1-5
Chocolate Thermometers
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Ok, my tempering skills are not sharp. They are getting better but not there yet. I bought one of those paddle type of thermometers, but I am not happy with it. Is there any thermometer that is better than others? Digital over glass? Glass over digital? Brand or generic?
As Vinny Barbarino would say... I am sooooo confused!
Thank,
Steve K.
updated by @Steve Kurz: 04/11/25 09:27:36
April Fool's Day Chocolate "Treats"
Posted in: Opinion
Hi Clay,I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's good to laugh at ourselves every once in a while too! I would send you a test sample of the chocolate to try for yourself, but it expired on April 1.
April Fool's Day Chocolate "Treats"
Posted in: Opinion
Chocolate Life member Walter Plante posted a link to a blog (kokobuzz) about Free Range Chocolate from/by New Leaf .
Free Range chocolate? Hmmmmm. April 1st? Double hmmmm . I went to the site to take a look for myself. There I read:
In order to be certified as Free Range, growers are not allowed to cut cacao pods from the trees since cutting can result in scaring and discomfort for the trees. Instead the pods must fall naturally and only when they are ready. According to Chuck (no last name), a 27th generation cacao farmer from Madagascar: It takes tremendous patience to wait for the pods to drop from the trees so that we can collect them. Sometimes there is a little bit of bruising on the outside of the pods, but it doesnt affect the cacao beans inside that much really.
I won't reveal a spoiler ... but I do recommend linking over to the site and reading the post, it's a lot of fun (hint: take a look at the acronyms for the "free range" certification agencies).
It brought a welcome smile to my face.
Thanks, Walter, for bringing this to my attention.
Does anyone else have any favorite April Fool's Day Chocolate Treats to share?
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/19/15 20:12:19
Graphic for Business
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Danielle.Great. Send the file to andre (dot) terrabrasilis (at) gmail (dot) comI will work on it for you.Take care!Andre
Graphic for Business
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Andre- Thanks for the offer. It is a paint option, but I can save as a JPEG or GIF (nice thing about paint). That should allow you to change it to an illustrator file. I know a bit about graphic conversion (had to do it over the years), and know that this is possible. I appreciate any help you can give me.Danielle
Graphic for Business
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Danielle,I am not a graphic designer, but I do have Photoshop and Illustrator. If this is a straight forward conversion, send me the file (if you feel comfortable, of course) and I can do it for you.Now, you mentioned you created the file on Paint?? Is this correct? I am not sure whether this type of file is importable into Illustrator, but I am willing to give it a try.PM me!
Graphic for Business
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
What program did you create the graphic in? If it's Photoshop I think you can get the outline(s) of the shapes, turn them into paths, and then export to EPS.Otherwise, I would look into the graphic arts department of a local community college. There is probably someone there who could do the conversion for you for a reasonable price.
Graphic for Business
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I created my own graphic for my business, but need to find a graphic artist that can convert it from a paint file to a illustraor file in order to send it to companies for printing on ribbons/t-shirts/labels. I would prefer not to buy a full version of illustrator...any ideas?
updated by @Danielle: 04/11/25 09:27:36
the broma process ebook for downloading
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
PLEASE DO NOT pay and download these files. The second one leads me to believe that even though they include the word Broma in the title, they are about computing, not about cacao.
the broma process ebook for downloading
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
hello members of chocolatelife,Am back again, sorry to take some of your time. Am really having a hard time with my broma process project. AS part of my search online, i came across some sites that one can download e books on broma process.here are some of the sites: http://bombbook.filegranted.com/1/search.php?q=broma+process&afid=9 http://expertload.com/?mod=search&q=broma+process i tried downloading, but i have to pay first. My problem is that am in Ghana, and we don't use such credit cards here, so i would to plead with you to help find people who out of their own free will would like to download the ebook(s) and send it to me, i don't need their credit cards (for security reasons), i only need the ebooks, my email address is captainken1@ymail.comthanks in advance for your co-operationchocolate life memberKenneth Mensah
updated by @kenneth mensah: 04/11/25 09:27:36
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Excellent. Let me know if I can help. I'd have been there in a heart beat if the schedule allowed.
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
hi kerry,the pan has a fan/blower attachment. actually, i think we've located someone now to come and meet with us and show us the tricks of our machine. i'll let you know if we need more help but i'm told these folks know their stuff. hope so! thanks for being in touch. i'll let you know how it turns out!
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
What are you using to warm and cool?
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Hi Kerry,Yes, chocolate only, covering nuts, coffee beans, etc. We have a 24" pan with two bowls, one ribbed, one smooth.
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Roni-Sue,What do you plan to do with the panning machine? Strictly chocolate?
Panning machine experts?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I have a brand new commercial panning machine and my staff and I have limited experience with such equipment and thepanning processin general. We would like to hire a panning expert in the NYC area to come into our shop and do a hands on tutorial for us. Please spread the word to help us find someone and let us know if you can fill the bill, thanks!
Also, if you have materials you have found helpful, I'd appreciate if you would let me know about them. I've found some on-line and have down-loaded them but there's nothing like a real face to face hands on experience to learn something!
updated by @Roni-Sue: 04/11/25 09:27:36
Adding Own Ingredients.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks for the information - Obviously I'm no Chocolatier yet would like to add my own ingredients where possible.How about honey as a form of sweetning?Thanks again.
Adding Own Ingredients.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Liquid milk, liquor or fruit juice can't be used in chocolate. It will cause the chocolate to seize. Those liquids can however be used if making a ganche.You can add cocoa butter to couverature - however adding sugar may result in a grainy product. Sugar is generally added before the conching process insuring that the particle size becomes very small and thereby preventing it from be detected as crystalline by the tongue.
Adding Own Ingredients.
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Hi,
I naturally have thought of adding my own ingredients to a 99%couverture chocolate I can get hold of. Is this an easy thing to do i.e can Ijust simply add my own milk powder and cocoa butter to a melted chocolate? can Iadd things like a liquor, Cognac or even fruit juice, for example juicedstraberries ect?
PS. Can I use liquid milk instead of powdered form? I'mfrom England and there's a chocolate bar that states it uses real milk.Obviously I can't stand the thing now that I'm aware of decentchocolate.
Thanks.
updated by @Mark Wilton: 04/11/25 09:27:36
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
Thanks for the update. Unfortunately no chocolate is for sale on his website.
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
Just updating this to note that DeVries did appear at the DC event last month.
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
I saw Steve in July last year up in Denver. Yes, his mother is ill. Steve also contracted a bug while down in Bolivia which he has been fighting since that trip in early '09, I think... maybe earlier then that. I do not know whether that has changed or if he is still fighting that. I am sorry to hear that his mother is so ill. Sorry Steve. Hope you are better though. -Mark
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
I was told by a fellow chocolatier that Steve's mom has been having health issues, so he has suspended operations until further notice. Sadly, IIRC the illness is terminal.
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
Steve DeVries appeared at a chocolate event in Dallas (along with Alan McClure of Patric) in late August, at which point his online portal was already indicating that no chocolate was available for retail sale. He appeared to still be in the business, despite the unavailability of retail product. He is also scheduled to do a presentation on chocolate next month in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with National Geographic.I'm reluctant to assume anything from the recent unavailability.
What happened to De Vries?
Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)
Anyone know what happened to De Vries chocolate? The website is down and I tried to email Steve, but no answer. I hope everything is okay.
updated by @Matt Caputo: 12/13/24 12:16:07
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
VanessaIm sorry. I got this from a pdf, much bigger doc. Im trying to get it right for you.Sole
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
It is lovely
One of the few around, at least, what I've come across.
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thank you, Maria.Unfortunately, I can't see the map since my computer doesn't support ClipFile documents. Do you have another version?
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
The New Taste of Chocolate by Maricel Presilla has a lovely map. Page 32 is a world map of cocoa's disbursed cultivation.
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
I have one that might interest you. It is a map of the Ecuadorian Nacional. The only forastero in the world to be considered aroma cocoa . Consider Ecuador produces the 60% of the aroma cocoa of the world. I send you an attached doc. The arriba subtype is not mentioned in the map, but corresponds to the Los Rios and Guayas provinces, southwest of the country. It is the one Samantha talks about.I hope this is useful to you.Sole
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
A collaborative Google map is not a bad idea.There are tools to draw regions as well (to describe boundaries), attach pictures, and more.If this is of interest, I could set up the framework for people to work from.
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
V- if there's something that needs doing Google had probably developed something to help. Have you considered using Google Earth to help keep track of plantations and areas? In the short term it can at least give you some basic info like coordinates.
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Thanks, Clay. I agree that it will be harder. And the end personality of a chocolate comes after its rearing in a certain environment and how it's handled after the fact. After assessing everyone's input, it might be a worthwhile project to explore that on my own, slowly but surely.
Cacao Info Resources?
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques
Vanessa:There are no generally available maps that provide the information you are looking for; some companies might have ones they use for their own purposes (I have seen ones Nazario Rizek has for various plantations they manage in the Dominican Republic but I don't remember if they have elevation data on them). But finding the underlying stratigraphic detail is going to be very hard - so correlating the geography with soil conditions (and then climatic patterns) is going to be even harder.I think that most of us in the industry with experience and knowledge agree that terroir is somehow involved, however, it's a lot more complex with cacao than with grapes - especially because the bulk of the crop is produced by smallholder farmers who don't care.